Dapred  /  Recent Files Pro

Recent Files Pro

A real recent-files panel for Obsidian.

Recent files, with timestamps you can trust.

A fast, sortable, filterable recent-files panel for Obsidian — and the first one that shows true modified times, sourced from git instead of the filesystem stamps that sync and checkouts quietly clobber. Why I built it →

Install → View on GitHub →

The bug it fixes

In a git-backed or synced vault, a checkout, pull, merge or sync rewrites files on disk and stamps them with the moment of that operation — so the built-in “recent files” shows pages you haven't opened in weeks as edited “11 hours ago.” The modified time is real; it's just not your edit.

Filesystem mtimeEdited 11h ago — bumped by last night's sync.
Recent Files Pro (git)Edited 6 days ago — the real last change.

Pick your source of truth

One setting, four strategies. Default is Smart — accurate and self-healing.

RecommendedSmart

The most recent trustworthy signal: an in-session edit if you made one, otherwise the git commit time, otherwise the filesystem stamp. Accurate without thinking about it.

Git commit time

The true “content last changed” time. Immune to checkout, pull, merge and sync. Granularity matches your commit cadence. Desktop + git required.

In-session edits

The exact moment you saved a file in Obsidian — caught from edit events, guarded to the active file so external rewrites can't poison it. No git needed.

Filesystem mtime

The classic behaviour, for vaults that aren't under git or sync. Zero overhead, works everywhere.

Everything else it does

Sort, filter, find

A sortable table: name, folder, type, modified, created, opened, open-count, size. Filter by folder, file type, tags, frontmatter property and date range. Free-text search where space-separated terms must all match. Click a header to sort, drag to reorder, drag the edge to resize.

NEW & UPDATED flags

Files created within your “new” window are flagged NEW; files changed since you last opened them get UPDATED — both driven by the timestamp source you chose, so the flags are honest too.

Pins, presets & a timeline

Pin files to the top, save filter+sort+grouping bundles as one-click presets, colour-code folders, and open a timeline view that buckets your vault by day, week or month.

Private by design

Runs entirely inside Obsidian. No network requests, no analytics, no telemetry. Open history, pins and presets live in the plugin's own settings file in your vault.

Install

  1. Community Plugins (once approved): Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search Recent Files Pro → Install → Enable.
  2. Via BRAT (early access): install the BRAT plugin, then “Add beta plugin” with theprsi/recent-files-pro.
  3. Manual: download main.js, manifest.json and styles.css from the latest release into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/recent-files-pro/ and enable it.

Open the panel from the ribbon, the status bar, or the command palette (“Open recent files panel”). For true git times: desktop Obsidian with git on your PATH.

FAQ

Why do my files show as edited when I never touched them?

The built-in recent files reads the filesystem modified time, which a checkout, pull, merge or sync rewrites to “now.” Recent Files Pro can read the true last-change time from git history instead, so untouched files stop showing as just edited.

Does it track me?

No. It runs entirely inside Obsidian, makes no network requests, and keeps its data in the plugin's own settings file. No analytics, no telemetry, no third parties.

Does the git feature require anything?

Git on your PATH, on desktop Obsidian. If git isn't available it silently falls back to filesystem times. The “In-session edits” and “Filesystem” sources need no git at all.

What does it cost?

Free. No upgrades, no ads, no trackers.